New Year’s bubbles: don’t buy them too early, chill them properly, don’t pop them and forget the spoon

How are bubbles made?

It is true that some sparkling wines are made by simply adding carbon dioxide. But sparkling wines are made in a completely different way. Tirage liquor, which includes yeast and sugar, is added to high-quality tural wine. In a sealed container, everything is fermented again and the sugar turns into alcohol and carbon dioxide, i.e. bubbling. For sparkling wines produced by the classical method, this takes place directly in the bottles, for others the process takes place in large stainless steel pressure tanks and the bottles are filled only after that.

Dry does not mean not sweet

Someone prefers “brut”, someone “demi”. Although these are the two most common types of sects in our country, do you know what exactly is hidden under these terms? Just as still wines are classified according to their residual sugar content as dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet, so are sparkling wines. If you are looking for a dry sparkling wine, choose from the brut tural, extra brut or brut category. Extra dry, extra sec, future sec and dry are slightly sweeter. Dry, semi-dry and double categories are already very sweet.

Don’t buy too early or too late

Long-term storage of sparkling wine will not greatly improve its quality, so do not overdo it with storage. In the dark, it will last for about a year, but the bottle should stand all this time. It is better to buy it only a little in advance, i.e. ideally a few days before Sylvester in order to have time to cool down well at home.

Proper cooling is essential

To enjoy sparkling wine to the fullest, it must be properly cooled. The recommended temperature can always be found on the label. When consumed, there should be sparkling wine. temperature 5 to 7 °C. However, since it heats up a little when poured into a glass, it must be cooled to an even lower temperature, about 3 to 5 °C. You will get it by refrigeration for at least half a day in the refrigerator, so put a sufficient supply of bottles in it already on New Year’s morning. Also, do not put bottles in the refrigerator door, where blows are frequent. If you forgot to chill your sparkling wine in time, don’t try to save it by putting the bottles in the freezer. Extreme temperature changes greatly interfere with sparkling wine. So if you need to chill it quickly, place the bottle in a container with ice and cold water.

Sparkling wine does not shake or rattle!

Until now, there are many people who are proud of the fact that sparkling wine makes a big splash when opened. Although this method is somewhat accepted on New Year’s Eve, you can be much more impressed if you do it right, i.e. decent and as quiet as possible. The first tip is simple: never shake the bottle. Hold it in one hand and remove the wire cup (called the agafa) by carefully holding the cork with your thumb so that it does not pop out of the bottle prematurely. It is no coincidence that the me fast fork has become popular for the sect. Cork can reach speeds of up to 40 km per hour. Bottle keep it tilted at a 45 degree anglehold the cork in the palm of your left hand, and with your right hand rotate the bottle in one directionuntil the plug is disconnected and a familiar sound is heard. Now you can pour. With glasses tilted at a 45 degree angle, lower the glass slowly and nicely. This will prevent the sparkling wine from foaming and the bubbles will stay in it longer.

Narrow or wide glass?

They are usually recommended for serving sparkling wines. high thin glasses, the so-called flutes. You should fill them no more than two-thirds. They keep sparkling wine longer, so you can enjoy sparkling wine to the fullest. On the other hand, you should tilt your head more when you drink. Some experts advise using tulip type glasswhich are wide and short. The seething in them does not last as long as in flutes, but the aroma develops beautifully in them. It’s up to you to decide what you like best and what makes your sparkling drink better.

You don’t need a spoon

It may happen that you do not drink the whole bottle and want to save sparkling wine for later. For such cases, there was a fairly popular trick to keep the bubbles in sparkling wine. It was enough to put a teaspoon in an open bottle. The truth is that nothing, not even a specially shaped or even a silver spoon, will stop the bubbles from gradually escaping. However, with a quality sparkling wine, you should still feel a slight effervescence even after a few days of opening. If you want to enjoy the bubbles to the fullest, it is recommended to drink sparkling wine either immediately after opening the bottle, or buy special pressure plugthanks to which open sparkling wine can be stored in the refrigerator without damage for up to three days.

What to enjoy?

Even with the highest quality sparkling wineas with other types of alcohol the old well-known rule applies: everything in moderation and with water. And if you’re not going to limit yourself to one drink, it’s a good idea to eat something first.

The big advantage of sparkling wine is that you can combine with almost anything. Perfectly complements soup, main course and dessert. Its taste especially stands out in combition with blue or green cheeses, caviar, tu or oysters. Dryer varieties of sparkling wines are great as an aperitif and also great to drink. cocktails.

Try this for example:

brunch punch

Raw material:

• ice
• 2 liters of Sprite soda
• 450-500 ml orange juice
• 450-500 ml pineapple juice
• 450-500 ml of vodka
• 1 bottle of sparkling wine
• 2 cups strawberry slices + a couple of strawberries to cover the glasses
• 2 cups raspberries
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves + extra for garnish
• granulated sugar to decorate the rim of the glass

Method:

1. In a large punch bowl, add ice, sprite, orange juice, pineapple juice, vodka, sparkling wine, strawberries, raspberries, and mint leaves. Stir.

2. Brush the edges of the glasses with chopped strawberries and roll in sugar. Pour in the cooked punch and garnish with fresh mint.

Cherry Bomb Mimosa

Raw material:

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup cherry compote juice
• 1 bottle of sparkling wine
• orange slices for garnish

Method:

1. Mix pineapple juice with cherry juice and pour into champagne glasses.

2. Top up with sparkling wine and garnish with orange slices.

Long Island Iced Tea

Cocktail “Mimosa”

blue champagne

Blanchett